AnewZ Morning Brief - 16 September, 2025
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 16th of September, covering the latest developments you need t...
Canada's Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng
Canada wants to deepen its economic ties with the EU and uphold global trading rules in the face of threatened U.S. tariffs, its trade minister Mary Ng told Reuters on Saturday.
The EU and Canada have benefited from a free trade agreement since 2017, which has boosted bilateral trade by 65%, and set up a raw materials partnership in 2021.
Ng met EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic for a lunch on Saturday following a meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organization in Geneva on Friday.
"Trade agreements are one thing, and we have seen really great numbers, but what more can we be doing to help Canadian businesses enter into any of the 27 member states...and what more can we do to the same in Canada" Ng said.
She said critical minerals and smaller businesses would be among the focus areas with the EU. The EU, in particular, is keen to forge partnerships to secure metals that are key for the energy transition - cobalt, lithium and nickel - to reduce its dependence on China.
Canada is also pushing to diversify its exports and set itself a target in 2018 of increasing non-U.S. exports by 50% by 2025. Ng said the country was on track to meet or exceed the target.
Canada struck trade deals with Indonesia in December and Ecuador last week and is pushing hard in the Indo-Pacific region. The minister is leading a delegation including more than 200 businesses to Australia, Singapore and Brunei next week.
"We are at the table with the countries in Southeast Asia, so the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. I took a very large delegation of Canadian businesses to the Philippines in December, to Indonesia, to markets like Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Korea," Ng added.
Ottawa threatened retaliatory duties and legal action against the United States after President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico a week ago and before he paused their imposition for 30 days. Ng said Canada could challenge Washington at the WTO if tariffs were imposed.
"We would consider all of the options are available to Canada because Canada is a country that believes in a rules-based trading system," Ng said.
AnewZ has learned that India has once again blocked Azerbaijan’s application for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while Pakistan’s recent decision to consider diplomatic relations with Armenia has been coordinated with Baku as part of Azerbaijan’s peace agenda.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 16th of September, covering the latest developments you need to know.
A massive attack on Ukraine's south eastern city of Zaporizhzhia has killed a 41-year-old man and injured 13 people on Tuesday according to officials. The regional governor said that the strikes triggered a large number of fires.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he did not rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders "wherever they are", as the heads of Arab and Islamic states held a summit to back Qatar after Israel's attack last week in the Gulf state.
Google said on Tuesday it would make £5 billion pounds ($6.80 billion) in new investments into Britain ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to the country, which is expected to feature a flurry of business deals and partnerships.
U.S President Donald Trump said on Monday he would file a $15-billion lawsuit for defamation and libel against the New York Times, days after the newspaper released articles on his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
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